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Rocklin woman in MyRedBook case freed on bond

Annemarie Lanoce accused of facilitating prostitution

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Updated: 2:02 PM PDT Jul 2, 2014

Two San Francisco-based escort websites were shut down by the FBI and the IRS on Wednesday and the sites' two alleged proprietors appeared in federal court, accused of facilitating prostitution and money laundering, according to the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office.

Rocklin woman in MyRedBook case freed on bond

Annemarie Lanoce accused of facilitating prostitution

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Updated: 2:02 PM PDT Jul 2, 2014

SAN FRANCISCO —

A Rocklin woman accused of facilitating prostitution through the website MyRedBook.com was released from jail Wednesday on $250,000 bond.

Annemarie Lanoce, 40, also had her Internet restrictions lifted and is allowed to go online but may not associate with any customers or other affiliates of MyRedBook.com or any related websites.

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Lanoce's attorney, Geoffrey Hansen, requested the restrictions be lifted not only for her personal use but so she could continue to sell wares on the craft website Etsy.com.

The alleged operator of MyRedBook.com and SFRedBook.com pleaded not guilty in federal court in San Francisco this morning to charges of facilitating prostitution and money laundering.

Meanwhile, her co-defendant, Eric "Red" Omuro, 53, of Mountain View, entered a not-guilty plea in the courtroom of U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins on Wednesday.

Omuro, free on an unsecured $500,000 bond, had missed a court appearance Friday and Cousins briefly issued a bench warrant for his arrest, but he was quickly located by the FBI and was free once again this morning.

Omuro put up his residence as security for $250,000 of the bond. He had been prohibited from using the Internet as a condition of his release, but his attorneys and federal prosecutors expected to reach an agreement to loosen those restrictions this afternoon.

Both Omuro and Lanoce are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge William Orrick for a status conference on July 10.

Both are accused of facilitating prostitution through use of mail and the Internet, while Omuro alone has been charged with laundering more than $5 million in money and property he acquired through sales of VIP memberships and premier placements of ads.

Sex worker rights advocates have questioned law enforcement priorities in taking down the websites. Other similar websites charge for listings and operate nationally while MyRedBook.com only covered the western U.S.

The advocates also say that the websites helped sex workers protect themselves from potentially dangerous clients by providing the ability to pre-screen them before meeting and discuss potential clients with other sex workers in private forums.